Marion's spunky guard Micaela Combs was in street clothes on press row keeping her team's scorebook Tuesday night at Prairie. She winced every time her teammates lost the ball.

"I wish I was in there," she said.

The junior sparkplug has been out since the third game of the season with a stomach disorder that's put her in and out of the hospital. This was her first week back at school full-time, and she hopes to be in uniform again after the holiday break.

"We could have used her tonight," said Marion Coach Brian O'Donnell after the Indians lost their first game of the season, 59-40, to the suddenly surging Prairie Hawks.

"Micaela's an important part of our team. She's a difference-maker," said O'Donnell. "She does so many little things for us."

She's a good defender, for one thing, and an adept ballhandler. Her team needed both against a tough Prairie squad that has already surpassed last year's four-win season and is 6-3 heading into the holidays.

The Class 3A 12th-ranked Marion girls (7-1) turned the ball over 22 times in the first half alone. And no one could stop the Hawks' on-fire junior forward Courteney McCrary.

McCrary scored at will inside and out, leading everyone with 32 points on 11 of 13 shooting (including two 3-pointers) and 8 of 9 from the free throw line.

"Courteney had a tremendous game," said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. "She kept us energized and on course. We've had different people step up for us this year, and tonight Courteney had a terrific offensive game."

The lanky and long-armed McCrary also picked off five steals. Junior Alisa Weiland also came through, connecting on a trio of 3-pointers and collecting seven steals.

Some of Weiland's damage came at the start of the third quarter when the Hawks held the Indians scoreless for six minutes and went on a 16-0 run to put the game away.

"We were only down 27-25 despite all the mistakes we'd made," O'Donnell said. "But then they started to seize on every opportunity we gave them. They made an awful lot of good hustle plays."

Doser said that's what his girls lacked in the first half as they led only 25-21 going into the locker room.

"We didn't capitalize on all the steals we had. Marion did a nice job on defense taking us out of our rhythm," he said. "But we didn't play as well as we have been playing. I didn't think we were mentally ready at the start of the game."

Part of the reason, he suspects, was the emotional letdown after last Friday's stunning 63-43 shellacking of 10th-ranked Linn-Mar. Prairie superstar guard Madison Dellamuth, for instance, scored 25 points against the Lions but had only two points Tuesday night.

"She felt bad," Doser said. "She was so pumped up for Linn-Mar. I could see in her eyes she just wasn't there tonight."

O'Donnell, the second-year Marion coach who's had his team playing with grit all year, said he was pleased that his girls hung in and stayed close when they couldn't seem to hold on to the ball.

"I thought at the start Prairie did a great job controlling the tempo and forcing us to make a lot of mistakes. But we kept hustling and battled back," he said. "We played well in spurts. But you can't have lapses of two or three minutes like we did tonight."

Junior Beth Knapp was a bright spot with three 3-pointers for a team-leading nine points for Marion. Freshmen Amanda Sahm and Michalyn Mohr off the bench and provided some much-needed scoring and energy.

"This game was a good measuring stick for us," O'Donnell said. "It showed us what we have to work on and get better at. We need to do a better job on help defense. And, obviously we need to do a much better job taking care of the ball."

MARION (40): Allison Scott 0 1-2 1, Jessie Kramer 3 0-0 6, Beth Knapp 3 0-0 9, Dani Peyton 2 2-2 7, Alyssa Jones 0 2-4 2, Michalyn Mohr 3 1-1 7, Amanda Sahm 3 0-0 6, Emi Banes 0 0-0 0, Ashlin Korf 0 0-0 0, Brooke Cole 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Deeney 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-9 40.

PRAIRIE (59): Katilyn Yanecek 2 0-0 4, Cyerra Hutchins 2 0-0 4, Alisa Weiland 4 0-0 11, Courteney McCrary 11 8-9 32, Madison Dellamuth 1 0-0 2, Emilie Rotter 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Serbousek 2 0-0 4, Allison Neuhaus 0 0-0 0, Abby Ganske 0 0-0 0, Josie Wagner 0 0-0 0, Taylor Sanders 1 0-0 2, Kiana Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-9 59.

Halftime - Prairie 25, Marion 21. 3-point goals - Marion 4 (Knapp 3, Peyton), Prairie 5 (Weiland 3, McCrary 2).